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Quiz about Some Vintage Packs
Quiz about Some Vintage Packs

Some Vintage Packs Trivia Quiz

A miscellany of forgotten trading card games

When my rich uncle heard I love trading card games and the Vintage format, he sent me a hobby store's worth of packs as a gift. But they weren't what I expected: I now own a lot of cards from various games of yesteryear. Shall we play? Hints included!

A multiple-choice quiz by WesleyCrusher. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
390,344
Updated
Dec 07 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
702
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
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Question 1 of 10
1. The first game I got was the Star Wars Customizable Card Game, created by Decipher. A key mechanic to decide battles in that game is called drawing destiny - picking a card from your reserve deck and adding its destiny number to your power present. What Yoda-approved condition do I need to meet to be able to normally draw such a battle destiny card? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Not to be confused with the previous game, Decipher also produced a Star Trek Customizable Card Game. Given the exploration theme of the series, how would you usually win this game? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Decipher was not the only manufacturer to capitalize on "Star Trek". Fleer/Skybox also created a Star Trek trading card game. After opening three booster boxes of the game, I have cards of almost every character in the original series, but still miss the three most important ones - Kirk, Spock and McCoy. I don't have a rules booklet either - what I should do now? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Tolkien's works set in Middle-Earth have inspired two trading card games. The older of them is the Middle Earth Collectible Card Game, a highly complex and strategic game simulating every detail of the novels. One of its rules states that I may control only seven characters at any time. Can I still have the entire 9-person fellowship from the novel in play? Size matters! Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. With the release of the "Lord of the Rings" movies, it was only logical another trading card game would be created based on the franchise, this one by Decipher. Much simpler than the earlier game, this game sticks to the movie's story line. Accordingly, which card has to be in every deck in one version or another? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Netrunner is a cyberpunk card game that exists both in a trading card version and a later fixed deck release. One unique feature of this game is its extreme asymmetry - the two players represent a megacorporation and a runner - an advanced hacker. They have very different card types, goals and abilities. Of the following game actions, which is available only to one of the two sides? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Aspiring wizards will like the Harry Potter Trading Card Game. Based on the books and using painted artwork, this game lets you don the robes of a Hogwarts student casting spells and summoning magical creatures. Staying on the theme of a magical academy, what kind of resources do you need to play to power your spells? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. In a truckload of cards, there's bound to be a game so strange you almost can't believe it. My candidate for the most outrageous design is Hecatomb, a horror-based game in which you construct abominations to fight for you, each of them made up of up to five minions. What material and shape are these cards to support this gameplay? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Based on the "Over the Edge" role-playing game, "On the Edge" was a short-lived conspiracy trading card game by Atlas Games. It was particularly famous for one card that let you pick almost any card from any trading card game you wanted and use it as a (usually grossly overpowered) character. How did it logically (and easily) generate game statistics for that imported card? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. About the only things I didn't find in the truckload of cards I had been given were Magic: the Gathering packs - the ones I was looking for to improve my Vintage deck. A few packs of which really old (pre-1995) sets would have made me happy in this context? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The first game I got was the Star Wars Customizable Card Game, created by Decipher. A key mechanic to decide battles in that game is called drawing destiny - picking a card from your reserve deck and adding its destiny number to your power present. What Yoda-approved condition do I need to meet to be able to normally draw such a battle destiny card?

Answer: I have enough Force ability present

The Star Wars Customizable Card Game was around from 1995 to 2001 and had 12 major card sets spanning the original trilogy as well as Episode I of the prequels.

Each non-droid character (or built-in pilot of a ship) in the game has an ability value designating their strength in the Force, ranging from 1 (non-sensitive) to 7 (Jedi Master). If I have a total ability of 4 or more, I get to draw a battle destiny and add to my power, thus often dealing extra damage to my opponent or turning around a losing battle. Special cards can add more battle destiny draws. At tournament levels, players used some of the many deck manipulation abilities in the game to ensure they would always have high destiny draws.
2. Not to be confused with the previous game, Decipher also produced a Star Trek Customizable Card Game. Given the exploration theme of the series, how would you usually win this game?

Answer: Gain enough points from solving missions

14 full expansions and several add-on products were released for the game between 1994 and 2001 before it was rebooted with new rules as the Second Edition which saw 12 sets from 2002 to 2007.

This offering was unique in the genre in that players first jointly set up a spaceline - a kind of game board - composed of mission cards and hidden dilemma (obstacle) cards before actually playing the game. Under normal circumstances, 100 mission points would win the game. This usually required solving three of the six missions each player put down; individual missions ranged from 15 to 60 points depending on difficulty, but most were worth 30, 35 or 40.
3. Decipher was not the only manufacturer to capitalize on "Star Trek". Fleer/Skybox also created a Star Trek trading card game. After opening three booster boxes of the game, I have cards of almost every character in the original series, but still miss the three most important ones - Kirk, Spock and McCoy. I don't have a rules booklet either - what I should do now?

Answer: Open a starter deck; they are in there

In this short-lived Fleer/Skybox offering dating from 1996, the three most famous characters and the Starship Enterprise are basic cards shared by all players and found in each starter box. Each player could then play additional crew and equipment before embarking on episodes also made up of cards to give experience to their characters and gain points towards victory.

Apart from the base set, the game had only one expansion and was discontinued before covering more than the first half of the original "Star Trek" episodes.
4. Tolkien's works set in Middle-Earth have inspired two trading card games. The older of them is the Middle Earth Collectible Card Game, a highly complex and strategic game simulating every detail of the novels. One of its rules states that I may control only seven characters at any time. Can I still have the entire 9-person fellowship from the novel in play? Size matters!

Answer: Yes, because hobbits count only as half characters

Iron Crown's Middle Earth card game, released in seven sets from 1995 to 1998, is probably the most complex collectible card game in existence. Its many rules go into extreme detail and games can last for several hours. If you want to win by destroying the One Ring at Mount Doom - just one of several possible victory conditions - you have to first get to a site where you can discover (play) a Gold Ring card.

Then you have to test that ring (likely at a different place). If you are really lucky, you can now replace the ring you tested with the One Ring. Now you need to reach Mount Doom and finally play another card to try and throw in the ring (always hoping you don't get killed or corrupted first). I'm not that sure this epic sequence of events ever actually happened in serious play.
5. With the release of the "Lord of the Rings" movies, it was only logical another trading card game would be created based on the franchise, this one by Decipher. Much simpler than the earlier game, this game sticks to the movie's story line. Accordingly, which card has to be in every deck in one version or another?

Answer: The One Ring

The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game consisted of 15 main card sets and a few additional products released between 2001 and 2007. The first nine sets were split into three movie blocks and players had to use the locations from the newest film each year. The later sets allowed locations from all movies to be freely combined. The most innovative part of the game is its resource system. First the current fellowship player (the player whose turn it is) plays any number of cards they want. Each of those has a twilight cost to be added to a pool. Then, the shadow (minion) player has this pool available to pay for the cards they wish to try and hinder the fellowship's progress with. A player wins if they manage to either eliminate the opponent's ring-bearer or successfully move their own fellowship eight times (reaching the ninth site).

For collectors, the first nine sets included parallel foil versions of all cards. With the foil versions about 30 times as rare as normal cards of the same kind, complete foil sets were almost impossible to assemble.
6. Netrunner is a cyberpunk card game that exists both in a trading card version and a later fixed deck release. One unique feature of this game is its extreme asymmetry - the two players represent a megacorporation and a runner - an advanced hacker. They have very different card types, goals and abilities. Of the following game actions, which is available only to one of the two sides?

Answer: Make a run

Only the runner player can make a run, but this action is where almost all Netrunner games are decided. The corporate player's goal is to advance and complete agendas. To do that, they have to first install these agendas in a data fort and then spend actions. The runner can make runs on these forts, hoping to access ("liberate") agendas, scoring them for himself. Anti-intrusion cards (called "Ice") make his job tough and dangerous.

Netrunner, created by Richard Garfield and published by Wizards of the Coast, was available in three card sets from 1996 to 1999. The last set, Netrunner Classic, had an extremely low print run.
7. Aspiring wizards will like the Harry Potter Trading Card Game. Based on the books and using painted artwork, this game lets you don the robes of a Hogwarts student casting spells and summoning magical creatures. Staying on the theme of a magical academy, what kind of resources do you need to play to power your spells?

Answer: Lessons

Lesson cards are the basic resources in Harry Potter, although unlike in most games, they are not tapped or drained when used - if you have six lessons in play, you can cast two six-cost spells on the same turn. In this game, the players' decks also serve as their life - each point of damage dealt forces the discard of one undrawn card from the deck.

The Harry Potter Trading Card Game was available in 2001 and 2002; four of its five sets were based on the first book ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") while the fifth was based on "Chamber of Secrets".
8. In a truckload of cards, there's bound to be a game so strange you almost can't believe it. My candidate for the most outrageous design is Hecatomb, a horror-based game in which you construct abominations to fight for you, each of them made up of up to five minions. What material and shape are these cards to support this gameplay?

Answer: Partially transparent plastic pentagons

While not earning any points for longevity - the game saw only three releases with a total of 360 cards in 2005 and 2006 - Hecatomb certainly scores highly in the "creative card shape" category. Each card is a pentagon with a central art section and a border. The border has four transparent sections and one with the card title and game values. By stacking up to 5 minion cards (each rotated clockwise from the previous one) you could create an abomination having all the power and abilities of the components.

It shouldn't be too much of a surprise that the high production costs were a main factor in the decision to discontinue the game.
9. Based on the "Over the Edge" role-playing game, "On the Edge" was a short-lived conspiracy trading card game by Atlas Games. It was particularly famous for one card that let you pick almost any card from any trading card game you wanted and use it as a (usually grossly overpowered) character. How did it logically (and easily) generate game statistics for that imported card?

Answer: It assigned numbers present on the card to key values

When you play the "Copyright Violation" card, you get to bring in any card you want from any trading card game (which isn't limited to cards representing living beings). The only restriction is that the card must contain at least three numbers, representing cost, attack and defense respectively. Smart players were able to quickly find cards that really abused this - in particular, some cards from the "Star Trek" universe list a stardate or year as the second number, giving you an attack value of over 2000 for a low cost in a game where 6 is a really high number otherwise.
10. About the only things I didn't find in the truckload of cards I had been given were Magic: the Gathering packs - the ones I was looking for to improve my Vintage deck. A few packs of which really old (pre-1995) sets would have made me happy in this context?

Answer: Beta, Arabian Nights, Antiquities and Legends

Magic's Vintage format allows almost every card printed in the game since its 1993 release. Many of the most powerful cards in the game date from the very earliest sets, which also had extremely low print runs. Unopened packs of the early sets are even rarer today and command a price far above the expected value of the cards in a pack which can be quite considerable: top Vintage cards are worth hundreds of dollars and the most iconic power card, the Black Lotus, can fetch above $10,000 for a mint condition first edition Alpha or Beta copy.

The Ravnica and Lorwyn blocks were both very popular in the mid-2000s while Unglued, Unhinged and Unstable are official parody products not legal for tournament play.
Source: Author WesleyCrusher

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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